Quarter Million Dollar Rattle

By Amy Teeple

Published on June 29, 2006

The CPSC alleged that Tiffany and Co. failed to alert the government or consumers of a known hazard on its Farm Teether Rattle. The center bar on the $150 rattle could break, releasing small pieces that posed a choking hazard to infants.

Between November 2003 and February 2004, Tiffany and Co. received at least three reports of defective solder joints that caused the potential break. One report indicated that an infant mouthed a small animal figure from a broken rattle. The company stopped selling the rattles in March 2004, but did not alert consumers or the CPSC of the problem at that time.

Only after the CPSC opened its own investigation did Tiffany and Co. recall about 3,700 of the teether rattlers in February 2005.

Even though the company has agreed to the settlement, Tiffany and Co. denies that it violated the Consumer Product Safety Act by failing to report the rattle's hazards in a timely matter.

For more information on the recall of the Farm Teether Rattle, consumers can contact Tiffany and Co. at (800) 464-5000.

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